Tuesday, July 27, 2010

I wrote this one night last week when I was feeling especially thoughtful....

As our trip is coming to a close, I've realized that the best part of the travel is not necessarily the places that we've been (although they have been great) but really about the people that we have met. We have been touched by some of the locals that we have met although in truth, they have been few and far between. Our spanish just isnt good enough to really connect with them. For the most part, its the other backpackers that have really made our trip. We have learned as much about their countries as we have about Central America. We have met so few people that we dont like. These are all outgoing, adaptable, tough, interesting, intelligent people. The atmosphere of a hostel is so different from that of a hotel. Hotels are full of people who are mostly on short vacations. Hostels are homes for travelers. They have kitchens and a communal sort of vibe. Although we are all wanting to see and do thing to experience the places that we are visiting, we also want to feel a bit of home. We want to kick up our feet and read books or watch movies or just sit around and talk. We have learned to make our home wherever we are and to make friends with whoever is sitting closest. I came on this adventure, hoping to figure out what kind of life and career would really fulfill me and I think that I know. Rob and I have discussed it a lot and coming home will allow us to remove ourselves from this atmosphere to decide if it really is something that we would like to do long term. I think that the perfect way to continue to experience my favorite parts of travel would be to run a hostel. It would allow us to continue to be surrounded by interesting people while still being settled down. I'm confident that between the 2 of us, we have the skills and experience to do it well. I've learned enough to know that maybe we will come home and forget all about it, slipping happily right back into our old lives with our friends and family and jobs and all of the things that we left behind in January. I know that is what our mothers would like us to do and I love them for that. I also remember how I felt, sitting at my desk feeling a little trapped and a lot unfulfilled. Putting this out on the blog makes it seem very real but I'm doing it anyway. My goals when I get home are first, to get some sort of income...any sort of income really. Ideally, I would love to find something that I could do online and from anywhere in the world but that might be unrealistic. Second, I want to continue working on my spanish, since that would be imperitive to running a hostel down here in central america, in this part of the world that we have fallen in love with. Third, to find a hostel, whose owners are looking for a break and would like us to come and take over for a while to get a taste of that side of the life to see if it is really something that would make us happy.